The farmers of Monaragala have agreed to give some amount of water to the paddy fields cultivated under the Udawalawe Reservoir which are being wilted due to the lack of water, the Ministry of Agriculture said.
Ministry Secretary Gunadasa Samarasinghe said that according to a request made by the Director of Irrigation in Monaragala, part of the water from 11 lakes in Monaragala District would be directed to the Udawalawe Reservoir through Weli Oya Dam.
Accordingly, the Ministry said that 1,200 acre-feet of water is being released into the Udawalawe Reservoir daily.
The Ministry Secretary said that even though this is a small amount of water, it will be able to save some part of the paddy fields which are facing the severe drought.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera said that due to the drought, the water level of the Udawalawe Reservoir has decreased to two percent, and 65,000 acres of paddy fields are at risk of being damaged.
